PENTICTON – The Penticton Indian Band Development Corporation is earning a reputation for its business savvy.

The Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business and Sodexo Canada has announced the corporation has won the Aboriginal Economic Development Corporation award.

“It was a nice surprise. I’m honoured," Penticton Indian Band chief Jonathan Kruger says.

He says it made him happy to see just how far the band's development corporation has come thanks to the hard work of the group and its strong mandate in the community.

“We’ve taken some bold steps to move the community forward, and the community is standing behind our decisions. We are involved in economic development that is good for the whole South Okanagan region," Kruger says. "It’s a winning situation for the City of Penticton, band members and locatee land owners.”

He says the developments currently underway give the band confidence and builds momentum to move forward in a positive direction.

The award will be presented in Calgary on May 14.

The development corporation’s current initiatives include the Skaha Hills subdivision development west of the airport and construction of the Satik Crossing bridge off the Channel Parkway.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.